The Heroic Adventure in The Garden of Forking Paths, by Jorge Luis Borges

All heroes around the world go through a journey of their own. Those journeys can be a physical, , mental, emotional journey, and lots more. These types of personal journeys are demonstrated in an epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, an interview, The Hero’s adventure by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers, a short poem, Courage by Anne Sexton, a graphic novel, The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds. They all show how journeys can be transformative and show a person’s strengths and/or weaknesses.

Watching a film, one can easily recognize plot, theme, characterization, etc., but not many realize what basic principle lies behind nearly every story conceived: the hero’s journey. This concept allows for a comprehensive, logical flow throughout a movie. Once the hero’s journey is thoroughly understood, anyone can pick out the elements in nearly every piece. The hero’s journey follows a simple outline. First the hero in question must have a disadvantaged childhood. Next the hero will find a mentor who wisely lays out his/her prophecy. Third the hero will go on a journey, either literal or figurative, to find him/herself. On this journey the hero will be discouraged and nearly quit his/her quest. Finally, the

The archetype of the Hero’s Journey holds a prevalent pattern in the works of “Initiation” by Sylvia Plath, “A & P” by John Updike, and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. These works all follow the 17 stages of Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth which are separated in three stages; separation, initiation, and return. The main characters have different characterizations; however, they all follow the basic structure of the Hero’s journey archetype. There are many similarities and differences between the stages that are shown through many context clues and literary devices in each work. The Hero’s Journey archetype expressed in these literary works follow a similar and direct narrative pattern.

During the course of this World Literature class, several stories have been covered that accurately describe Joseph Campbell's mono-myth, or basic pattern found in narratives from every corner of the world. The Hero's Journey in it's entirety has seventeen stages or steps, but if boiled down can be described in three; the departure, the initiation, and the return (Monomyth Cycle). Each stage has several steps, but the cycle describes the hero starting in his initial state, encountering something to change him, and this his return as a changed person. To further explain this concept, there are a few stories covered in this class that can be used.

Change is inevitable. Whether it be positive or negative, change is constantly happening. More than often change can take you from the known world and spit you into the unknown, where you return a changed person. While embarking on the journeys provoked by change, you are on a hero’s journeys. The hero’s journey was popularized by Joseph Campbell. When describing what prompts hero’s journeys, Joseph Campbell said,

The Hero’s Journey is a situational archetype of every story made, whether it’s a poem, narrative or film they all tell this Journey.

Being a hero does not always mean wearing capes and fighting villains during the dark hours of the night, it means so much more as Susanna Barlow, in the article “Understanding the Hero Archetype”, explains. In the novel Sleeping Freshman Never Lie by David Lubar and in the movie The Wizard of Oz, Scott and Dorothy fall upon two incredible journeys to becoming true heroes. Throughout their remarkable journeys, Scott Hudson and Dorothy Gale experience similar difficulties, obstacles, lessons, and characteristics. These experiences demonstrate how the obstacles and lessons they suffer through teach both characters very important lessons in becoming a hero. Being a true hero requires kindness, generosity, strength,

In two pieces of literature, The Odyssey written by Homer and Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury, the protagonists, Odysseus and Guy Montag follow a narrative structure known as the Hero’s Journey. The Hero’s Journey was first discussed by Joseph Campbell, and he explains how the hero has to journey through the three main phases: the departure, the quest, and the return. In these phases, the hero first has to depart from their home, family, and known world because they are called to an adventure or quest. Then, while questing away from home, they meet a mentor figure who guides them and helps them through obstacles. They also make enemies and alliances, and they find that through all of these events they transform their flaws into strengths. Finally, by the end of the journey, known as the return, the hero has strengthened their mind and spirituality, giving the full potential to live a harmonious life. Again, in both of these texts, the protagonists, Odysseus and Guy Montag, follow the Hero’s Journey, in order to alter and diminish their negative traits into

Phase two of the hero’s journey is “Initiation and Transformation” and this includes “The Challenges”, “The

hero's journey is not solely “applicable to fiction but also to the journeys that everyone goes

this book, Campbell discusses the stages between an ordinary people to a hero. The three main

Joseph Campbell had a theory that “every hero myth is really written about every human being” and that “all hero stories follow the same role” (Wilson, 2015). This pattern is also known as a monomyth. With Campbell’s theory of a hero’s journey can be applied to many movies of modern society, such as Star Wars, Batman and the Lord of the Rings. The heroes follow a pattern described by Campbell. There is separation or departure, trials and victories and a return to the real world. In simplicity, any story with a hero in it could have underlying Campbell ideas, which can be seen in Christopher Nolan science fiction movie Interstellar.

Gabriel García Márquez was born on March 6, 1927, in Aracataca, Colombia. When Gabriel was a kid, he lived with his mother’s parents. While living with his grandparents, he heard many family stories, such as his grandfather’s military experiences and he heard stories about his parents’ dating adventures. While in college, he published his first story and he also became a journalist. When he was writing his first story, it was during a time of a civil war in Colombia called, La Violencia. Gabriel moved to Europe in the mid-1950s. After a while he moved back to his home country and worked with publications based in Venezuela and Cuba. García Márquez hid himself away in his Mexico City home for a long time to complete his novel, Cien años de soledad,

Dan Bronzite uses inspiration from Joseph Campbell to outline a hero’s journey through the description of 12 stages that appear in mythological stories. The phases include “ordinary world, call to adventure, refusal of the call, meeting the mentor, crossing the threshold, tests, allies and enemies, approach to the inmost cave, ordeal, reward (seizing the sword), the road block, resurrection, and the return with the elixir. Bronzite confirms that this is the basis for a heroic story; however, not all themes and tones correspond with this sequence. The heroic sequence can only be used when a journey is present and the characters and ideas have a heroic theme. Bronzite assures his audience that the “characters [should] define the story and [the] story [should] define [the] structure”; therefore, the heroic sequence does not always have to be considered in a myth’s first draft. The sequence

It describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization.” In summary, every hero undergoes the same experience, to an extent. The stages of the Hero Cycle are as follows: